The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have praised the breadth of artwork at one of the nation’s leading galleries as they were given a guided tour.

Charles described Tate Britain as a “remarkable cultural treasure”, and he and Camilla both lamented there was so much to see but so little time.

The scope of the Tate’s collection, from the work of painters such as Gainsborough and Turner to the contemporary exhibition Life Between Islands showcasing 70 years of Caribbean-British art, were viewed by the future king.

In an impromptu speech to staff Charles told those gathered in an atrium: “It’s a great pleasure to come, far too briefly frankly, there are too many marvellous things to see as always.

“But just to join you to help celebrate the 125th anniversary of Tate Britain, and of course when you think of all the other parts of the Tate dotted about the country it is a remarkable operation.”

The prince praised their efforts during the lockdown adding: “It must be quite encouraging I hope for you to see people coming back again and to make the most of this remarkable cultural treasure.”

During his visit the prince was fascinated by watercolour sketchbooks made by JMW Turner and flicked through them with great interest.

Alyson Rolington, head of collections, said of her conversation with the prince, a keen watercolourist: “He was talking about paints freezing and when you are painting outside it’s difficult to do, so he was admiring Turner for that.”

At one point as she waited for her husband while he enjoyed studying every painting he could squeeze into the short visit, the duchess sat down on a gallery bench to gaze at the large Rome, from the Vatican by Turner.

Told the prince would not be long, she joked: “I’ve heard that one before.”

Filmmaker and artist Sir Steve McQueen has a short video piece called Exodus on display as part of the Life Between Islands exhibition, and he presented Charles with a copy of his book about his epic portrait of London’s Year 3 pupils.

The Oscar winning director said: “It’s very important to have this exhibition showcasing Caribbean-British art in an institution like the Tate and it’s received widespread acclaim.”

Charles’s tour of Life Between Islands was hosted by David A Bailey, the show’s co-curator, and Sonia Boyce, an artist whose work is featured in the exhibition and who will also represent Britain at this year’s Venice Biennale.

Camilla was taken on a separate tour of Tate Britain’s permanent collection and at one point said: “There’s so much to see you never have time to get round to see it properly.”

She stopped to admire three small black and white photographs by Nigel Henderson, on display for the first time and capturing the street parties held to celebrate the Queen’s coronation in 1953.

“The Duchess was very interested,” said curator Elena Crippa. “She immediately recognised the street parties for Coronation Day, and she was pleased to see how the pictures were particularly focusing on children.”